PK Wishing
by Natsumiya Teirin
Summary: In an attempt to recruit more fighters, Master Hand goes back in time to prevent a death. Ness and Crazy Hand try to help Lucas deal with the fallout. Nesscas, Clauscas. Twincest. referenced character death. PTSD.


Master Hand looked at the character roster and his fingers curled in frustration. Even though there had been new characters added recently, the numbers were still lower than he would've liked. He remembered when the mansion was filled to bursting with fighters. Now only two thirds of the rooms were filled.

He'd brought back some characters that hadn't made it into the last game (with certain prohibitions, of course) as well as characters that'd recently appeared in certain worlds as said worlds gained popularity (Angel Land was very lucky on that count) but still...if only there was a way to gain more...

Crazy Hand burst into the office, but Master Hand was in no mood to toss him out. In fact, his craziness might just be useful for once.

The two hands conversed in awkward sign-language and, after about half an hour, came up with a plan.

Master Hand would go back in time, in much the same way as he had when he'd chosen Young Link all those years ago, and select a fighter- one ideally in his or her prime- and then bring them back to the present. If that fighter wasn't too badly affected and got along well with the others, then they'd try again to get more competitors this way.

But first, Crazy Hand would dig through the other smashers' files to see if he could find a good candidate from their relations outside of the mansion.

So, Crazy Hand began calling in the smashers one by one into his office, to sort through their memories.

OoO

There was no one to be found in the memories of the Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants, or the Hylians, or Crimeans, or Pikmin, or the Angel Landers that wasn't already there.

Ness's friends had been invited, but had never shown up.

There were no other Pokèmon trainers as strong as Ashe.

Samus and Cloud were both the strongest in their own respective worlds.

Master Hand was beginning to lose hope until Crazy told him of what he'd found in Lucas's memories.

Lucas had a twin.

A twin would be evenly matched in strength, and would be an even better fit for Lucas than Ness (though the boy had tried to fill that void). Now it was just a matter of getting him.

With a dismissive wave, Master Hand disappeared in a flash of light, only to come back a second later looking as if he'd been in a fight. In his fist, he held an unconscious child wearing a helmet of some sort.

Master Hand opened his fist and shook himself out, letting the boy drop down onto the floor.

Crazy Hand called Lucas back in.

OoO

The Hands knew that in Lucas's universe, his twin was gone.

After searching through Lucas's memories, they knew he was dead, and that he'd had to fight him when he was still alive.

But looking at memories was vastly different from looking at feelings, so they didn't know how weak and drained Lucas was when he had to fight him.

They didn't know how devastated he was when he'd suspected the Masked Man's true identity. They didn't know the soul shattering grief he felt when Claus used Lucas to indirectly kill himself. They didn't know the relief Lucas felt, when he realized he'd gone an entire day without thinking of his dead twin.

Even though Lucas's feelings weren't the first priority, Master Hand expected Lucas to be thrilled.

Crazy Hand, who'd always been the more emotional of the two, wasn't expecting Lucas to be _thrilled_ , necessarily, but...he wasn't expecting _this_ , either.

Lucas only needed to look at the body before him before his own body seized up.

At that moment, Crazy Hand realized they might've made a mistake. But there was no easy way to reverse it. The most they could do was make the best of it, and speculate.

And wonder just what was going through Lucas's head...

OoO

He saw the boy on the floor, and knew exactly what he'd find if he dared to look closer (so he didn't dare).

His body froze, and cold terror gripped his heart and _squeezed_ as memories he'd tried so hard to push back forced their way to the forefront of his mind.

 ** _The Masked Man used PK Thunder Г!_**

 _ **87 damage to Kumatora!**_ _ **84 damage to Duster!**_ _ **Critical hit! 103 damage to Boney!**_ _ **Boney fainted...**_ _ **92 damage to Lucas!**_

He was shaking, and his vision blurred. Why was _he_ here? Why wasn't he...?

 ** _"Oh! Commander, sir! Why are you dressed in those clothes?"_** ** _He wasn't a commander of anything._** ** _Maybe they looked similar?_** ** _The pants fit him just right._**

Lucas scrunched his eyes shut, feeling his chest grow heavier. He couldn't breathe- why couldn't he breathe?

 ** _That masked man- no, masked boy- looked down at him from the helicopter._** ** _He moved as if he were about to try and help them up, but it must've been a trick._** ** _The Rope-snake lost its grip, and they were falling- down, down, down to the trees below, where they'd be torn apart by the branches and left to die._**

He wobbled and sunk to his knees. Something was running down his cheeks, and someone was calling his name. It was a familiar voice- one he should've known, but couldn't pinpoint like this.

 ** _"Oh, Claus...my baby boy...you must be so tired..."_** ** _The Masked Man took off his helmet._** ** _It's...!_** ** _"Claus...it's time to come home..."_** ** _Claus used PK Thunder Г!_**

"-and then Jeff got ready to use the rocket launcher, and it flew maybe half-way to the zombie before it pooped out on us. There was soot _everywhere_ \- on me, on Paula, on Poo, and even the zombie! Jeff didn't get any on him, somehow."

Ness...Ness was talking to him.

That warmth must've been him hugging him, for his voice to be so close...

That's right...Ness was here...and if Ness was here, then that meant...

Lucas relaxed against his best friend's chest and looked up.

Ness stopped talking and grinned down at him.

"Welcome back, buddy."

Lucas smiled tentatively, noting that they were in Master Hand's office.

Did he dare...?

Lucas dared to look at the plush red carpet and, seeing Claus still there, closed his eyes again. Then, he spoke out- in part to Ness, but mostly to the Hands, who'd been watching impassively.

"Claus...Claus is dead..." he started, his voice cracking. "C-Claus is _d-dead_ , b-because I _k-killed him_! Why is he here? _Why did you bring him here!?_ "

This, Ness realized, was probably the first time he'd seen Lucas acting like a normal human outside of a PTSD flashback.

"Lucas," Master Hand began in his normal practical tone, "we had to fill the roster, and he was the only available candidate."

Lucas took a deep, shaky breath. When he spoke next, his voice reminded Ness of thin ice- it was cold, but fragile. Cracking, and on the verge of breaking to release a flood of emotions.

"...I...I need a moment... _please_."

Crazy Hand curled into a fist and bobbed up and down in a nod. Master Hand sighed.

"Very well. You have until dinner to calm yourself. But because of your relation to Claus, he will be moving into the room you share with Ness."

Lucas nodded his head. "A-alright. Thank you, Master Hand."

The blond allowed Ness to lead him out, and Crazy Hand and Master Hand held another signed conversation.

Yes, Crazy admitted, this was a mistake, but things would turn up eventually.

He was sure of it.

OoO

The Commander woke silently, giving nothing away to whoever might've been observing him. Except he wasn't a Commander, was he? He might've been, at some point, but not anymore. King P was...not dead, but trapped in an unescapable capsule of his own creation, and that was as good as death for an almost immortal being.

Claus remembered the crackling of his PSI at his fingertips, and the gleam of the Franklin Badge on Lucas's shirt.

As the older twin, it was his job to keep Lucas safe, and he'd _failed_.

If even he could be forced to harm Lucas- his precious, kind, gentle other half- then he would destroy himself, too. That way, Lucas would pull the final needle, and nothing could ever hurt him again. He could finally rest easily knowing mom and Claus were watching him from Heaven.

 _But that's not what happened._

He remembered the crackling of lightning- that lovely sizzling sound- and the brilliant flash of the bolts as they reflected off the Franklin Badge.

He remembered the terror in his other half's eyes as he realized what he'd done.

 _I'm doing it for you, Lucas. You'll understand one day that you're better off without me._

And then, just before the lightning hit, he remembered the sensation of being grabbed- snatched right out of death's grip by what, from his perspective, looked like a giant floating hand.

Perhaps this _was_ death holding him.

He didn't know for sure, and didn't really get the chance to find out, as with a softer banging sound, something whapped him in the back of his head, knocking his bruised body into unconsciousness.

When he next became aware, he was lying facedown on a plush carpet. Faintly, as if he were far away, he could hear a voice that sounded like his brother's, but somehow colder.

Years of training engrained and beaten into his body kept him from revealing his wakefulness.

Feigning sleep- or rather, feigning unconsciousness- was often a good way to gain information.

Finally, when the sound of a door shutting reached his ears, Claus dared to lift his head.

Before him were two floating hands- a left one and a right one. They didn't seem to be paying attention to him, instead communicating in what looked like an awkward one-handed sign-language.

Claus used this to his advantage and blended into the shadows, creeping and crawling along until his gloved hands came to rest around a doorknob.

He carefully twisted the knob beneath his fingers and slipped out of the room. The door didn't so much as squeak.

Claus felt relieved to have escaped that office, but now...

What could he do?

If that voice he'd heard was really Lucas, then he had to find him- had to keep him safe.

But where could he be?

With a shrug of his shoulders, Claus forced the helmet off of his head and stowed it away in his subspace inventory pocket.

Then, he began to wander, sticking to the shadows of pillars and stairwells, following a scent that reminded him of the omelets Lucas would make whenever their mom was unable to cook for them.

Perhaps that was what he was doing now? Cooking an omelet to relax with- and surely he wouldn't mind sharing, if Claus showed up. And then they could catch up on the things they'd missed from each other's lives and reestablish their previously unbreakable bond.

And then he could be at Lucas's side again, where he'd keep him safe and happy just like he did back then.


End file.
